Sound the Alarm When Google Sees You

If you've ever wondered how often Google looks at what you are doing or how often you send data to Google, than Google Alarm is for you.

Firefox and Chrome web browser users who install this browser plug-in hear a loud vuvuzela-like alarm whenever they visit a website that relays information to Google. You might know that Google tracks the Web activity of users who search for things via Google.com. However, you might be surprised hot often Google services are being used to track your browsing behavior on other sites.

Jamie Wilkinson created the Google Alarm plug-in in an attempt to clear up any confusion. "I'm very interested in exploring privacy issues on the internet, and the collection of data through these tracking bugs that are installed all over the Web is normally a very silent experience," he said. "And so my hope is to make it something more visceral, and raise awareness about the issue."

This plugin works by inspecting each page you visit for Google-related URLs: googleanalytics.com/ga.js for Google Analytics, doubleclick.net/googlesyndication.com URLs for AdSense, youtube.com/v/ for YouTube embeds, and more as Google has a growing array of services that track you. Each Google service triggers an individual alarm so you can become more aware of when you’re transmitting data to Google. Check out the video below for more info:

I think that most users will quicly tire or this plugin and the vuvuzela alarm. However, installing Google Alarm of a few days will help you learn more about the challenges of privacy on the Internet.